Static
by OhHeyJackTheRipper
Summary: There is a new evil afoot. Virus, a mysterious enemy, has begun to suck Players into the game itself. A fact that one particular Player, Marie, has just found out.


Something too bright was shining on my face. My bed had become hard and cold, almost as if it wasn't there at all. Slowly I opened my eyes, my hand flew to my face to shade them from the near blinding light. Something was very, very wrong. A fact that became ever more evident as I sat up and saw nothing but light pink water and yellow ground. Clearly I wasn't in my nice, soft, warm bed anymore. Sleep released my sense of smell and I was immediately overwhelmed by a combination of blood and something sweet.

"Well this is most definitely unexpected." came a curious, muffled voice from near by. I turned and saw a light grey jumper with a heart stitched onto it.

"Zacharie?" I asked, my voice hoarse and unused whilst sleeping.

"You seem to know me, however I have never seen you before, amigo." he said cocking his head to the side. This was ridiculous. It was obvious from the layout that I was in Zone 0 yet how I came to be here was a mystery to me. One moment I had given into the sweet call of sleep after spending hours replaying OFF, then next I was inside the game itself.

"I'm a player." I told him as I got to my feet. The surprise in Zacharie's muffled voice was far from hidden,

"A player? A real player?" he asked as he extended a hand to gingerly touch my arm, "This certainly is new."

"You're telling me." I replied with a strained chuckle.

"Well, dear player may I have the pleasure of knowing whom I'm speaking to?" he asked holding his hand out to me once again.

"The name I used on here was T3X with a 3, but my real name is Marie." I replied taking his offered hand to shake.

"Ah, yes. Tex with a 3. I had thought it may have been you. See, each player has a distinct feeling about them. However you aren't how I pictured you." he said, his tone switching from playful to serious in a second. I withdrew my hand and crossed my arms over my chest immaturely causing Zacharie to laugh and wave his hand dismissively.

"No, no, no. You misunderstand. I hadn't expected you to be this beautiful, dear T3X with a 3." I narrowed my eyes at him. I liked Zacharie, but upon meeting him something just felt...odd. Suddenly he looked up towards the sky. I could almost see the skin beneath his frog mask.

"It's getting dark. Come with me, I'll take you to Pablo." he told me and turned abruptly. I couldn't shake the uneasy feeling I had as I followed at a distance behind Zacharie up the long path towards the building the Judge called home. Yet if I had any chance of figuring out how and why I was here, that smiling cat would be my best bet. The two chests that usually await the Batter either side of the floating plastic where gone, as was the block that usually obstructed the door and chest to the right. Instead of going towards the ladder, Zacharie opened the door to the first building.

"No!" someone else cried, "Get away from him!" I looked behind to see who was yelling but Zacharie suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me into the dark room. I managed to catch the side of the building, stopping him from fully pulling me in.

"Get inside quickly. He's dangerous!" Zacharie said as he tugged at my arm.

"Don't listen to that imposter!" the stranger yelled as he came closer, "Get away from him!" Suddenly Zacharie was forced backwards, releasing my arm as he went flying. Something warm and soft encased my hand. I looked behind me to see a grinning cat mask.

"Zacharie? But you were just-"

"I'll explain later, T3X. For now just run." he said and pushed me behind him.

"I'd rather you tell me now." I argued refusing to do anything he said. Zacharie groaned,

"We don't have time. He'll be back any moment."

"Too late." the first Zacharie said as he stepped out of the darkened room, "Marie, listen to me. That man is not who he says he is. I'm the real Zacharie, trust me."

"He's lying." the second Zacharie argued as he held out his arms and shielded me from the first Zacharie, "Just run. Now!"

"He wants to imprison you, amigo." the first Zacharie claimed. Subconsciously I had begun slowly walking backwards towards where I had woken up. Suddenly the second Zacharie took out a small rectangular box and handed it back to me.

"Take this. Go to Zone 1 and look for the Batter, he'll keep you safe." he told me. It was then I knew who the real Zacharie was. I took the music box from him and turned to run back to the yellow floating cube, but stopped.

"What about you?" I asked meaning without his teleportation device how would he get back to Zone 1?

Zacharie shook his head, "Don't worry about me. Just go, I'll find you." I didn't want to leave him there to fight the fake Zacharie by himself, I wanted to help but I didn't know how. I didn't have a weapon or any skill with my fists.

"Go now!" he ordered when I hesitated. Taking a breath I began sprinting towards the yellow cube and the strong signal. When I got there, I could hear the echoes of their fight, but I couldn't tell who was winning. I closed my eyes, whispered an apology and opened the music box. Everything became quiet and still. There was no breeze, no smell - nothing. I opened my eyes and saw darkness. The Nothingness. I looked down to see only black. I was standing on air, just floating. This was what the Nothingness felt like.

The music box began playing again and suddenly I was being pulled downward. The speed made me feel queasy and so once again I shut my eyes to stop myself from being sick. But just as suddenly as I had started to fall, I was soon standing on hard ground with sunlight shining on my face. Slowly I blinked open my eyes. I was standing at the subway station, a man was leaning against the gate casually. His eyes were closed, and although I knew he was an Elsen, he looked more like a human from the real world. He wore black suit pants, a long-sleeved white button up shirt and a black tie; normal attire for Elsens. But it was his hair that surprised me. He had a dark short hair and a steep fringe. He looked up as I approached and I saw the manicured designer stubble gracing his chin. This was definitely not normal.

"You lost?" he asked with a light British accent. I frown automatically at this confusing Elsen,

"Umm...I'm looking for the Batter?"

"Batter? Oh you mean that strange guy that looks like he's just come back from baseball practice? He's down in Damien with some creepy looking cat." the Elsen explained. I thanked him and continued down the path until I came to a heavily guarded, gated community. Soldiers were stationed outside the gates. They stopped me as I stood dumbfounded before the compound.

"State your name and race." a rather tall and imposing man demanded.

"Uh, Marie...I'm human..." I said unsurely. He raised a thick eyebrow down at me,

"Human? What's your business in Damien?" he asked. I tried to lean past him to see if I could catch a glimpse of the Batter but the man before me was too wide.

"I'm looking for the Batter." I said. Suddenly the man lowered his gun and the other soldiers around us began whispering feverishly.

"Are you...a player?" he asked softly. I nodded and suddenly everything around me was thrown into chaos. Orders were shouted from every direction, men ran to the gate to open it and suddenly everyone was saluting me.

"Sorry for the questions Ma'am. Please, go straight in." the big man said as he ushered me through. Once I was safely on the other side, they closed the gate and returned to how I found them.

"What. Just. Happened?" I asked no one as I ran a hand through my hair. My arm brushed against the music box in my pocket and I remembered that Zacharie was still in Zone 0 fighting. Without wasting anymore time I began to run. I had no idea where I was running to but I hoped that I would run into the Batter.

"Oof." I gasped as I smacked into something hard and fell on my butt. After rubbing my forehead I gazed up to see what I had run into and saw a baseball uniform.

"Batter!" I cried as I jumped to my feet. When I had wished to run into him, I hadn't meant literally.

"Oui?" he asked gazing down indifferently at me from beneath his cap.

"Zacharie sent me. He's-" I began to tell him but after hearing Zacharie's name, the Batter suddenly grabbed my elbow and began pulling me towards an abandoned looking house hidden under the shadow of another building.

"Wait, can you just listen to me for a second?!" I asked as I practically jogged to keep up with the sporty man. He opened the door and shoved me inside before locking it behind us. A light flickered on revealing a small room entry room. The Batter led me up some stairs and down a narrow hallway until he opened the last door. Inside, asleep on a bed in a ball was a skinny, white cat.

"Judge, she's here." The Batter said in his French-stained English. The Judge flicked his ear before opening his large yellow eyes. He yawned and stretched and then sat in the middle of the bed.

"Finally we meet in person, dear T3X. I had feared Zacharie had arrived too late." he purred, "However, where is our dear merchant?"

"That's what I was trying to say." I muttered as I glared at the 6-foot-something man beside me, "After giving me this, he told me to come here and find you. He stayed behind to fight the fake Zacharie."

The Judge examined Zacharie's music box and made a sad expression before looking up at the Batter like they were having a psychic conversation.

"I don't particularly like leaving him, but we must get you to safety." The Judge said looking back to me, "Batter, would you be so kind as to escort Miss T3X to Pentel? I shall remain here and-"

"No!" I yelled furiously, "I have no idea what is going on, but Zacharie risked his life to save me and I sure as hell am not going anywhere until he's back here safe." I snatched the music box off the bed and shoved it into the Batter's hands,

"Go to Zone 0 and bring him back." I ordered him. The Batter stared down at me and for a moment I thought he was going to knock me out, tie me up and carry me to Pentel. But after a few tense seconds he let out a soft sigh and went downstairs. After hearing the click of the door closing I turned to the Judge to yell at him only to see a Cheshire grin on his little face.

"Well done, dear T3X. I'm quite impressed." he said, his tail swishing behind him.

"What?"

"Although it does hamper our plans, I am pleased you can control Batter this early. However, I had no intention of leaving Zacharie behind." he said.

"You were going to go back for him when Batter took me to Pentel." I stated as I caught on. The Judge nodded and leaped off the bed. He landed on the floor with a soft thud, "Nevertheless, we must get you to Pentel. It won't be long until the Virus discovers you're here."

I followed the Judge down the hallway, "Who or what is the Virus?"

"He's the one responsible for your being here and things being so different in our world. He came here a short time ago and killed the Queen." The Judge said, "Normally, no one really dies for good here, for obvious reasons, but he changed managed to hack the system and recode certain things. At first it was great, everyone could change their appearance and speech, et cetera. But then people started to mysteriously vanish. We knew something was wrong when Dedan went missing. The next thing we knew, players were beginning to enter our world. Virus had managed to suck them in somehow, but we were always too late to find them."

"He created the fake Zacharie to make the players feel comfortable. He figured a lot of people knew and liked Zacharie, and he's far less intimidating than Batter, so players trusted him more."

"Yes, we had come to that conclusion as well. You're quite sharp." the Judge said, "Alain had managed to sneak into Virus' compound and had discovered his next target. Zacharie decided that he should be the one to go despite both mine and Batter's protest. However it seems that perhaps he was just a tad too late."

"Will he be okay?" I asked stopping at the last stair and looking at my feet. The Judge turned and faced me,

"He's stronger than he looks, dear." he replied. I remembered the story of the Toad King that I'd read in the library. I had a feeling that the mysterious masked hero was Zacharie. The Judge and I exited the house and began our journey through the mines to Pentel. It was much safer and better lit than before and we soon reached our destination.

"I am rather curious about one thing however." he said as we made our way up the ladder to the surface.

"What's that?" I asked.

"You haven't asked me how we knew who you were." he said, "Why?" I gave a short laugh,

"The fake Zacharie said each player has their one distinct feel about them. I just assumed it was true when the real Zacharie said my screen name." I replied. The Judge seemed to consider my answer for a moment before nodding.

Pentel was just as locked down as Damien, with soldiers patrolling the area. Though there was only a handful of civilians to keep the mines and farming running, there was a lot of activity. We found an empty house and made ourselves comfortable while we waited for the Batter to return with Zacharie. The Judge had told me to get some rest but as I sat on the bed upstairs staring at the ceiling, all I could think about was whether Zacharie and the Batter were okay.

After a few hours of silence, my eyes were beginning to get heavy. The Judge had already fallen asleep curled up beside me while I absently stroked his head. It made me miss my own cat back home, although he wasn't as affectionate as the Judge. Actually, Shadow was kind of an ass.  
The door creaked open down stairs immediately waking the Judge. I climbed over him and ran down the stairs hoping it would be the Batter bringing Zacharie back. I froze at the bottom of the stairs as the Batter rested his blood stained bat against the wall. His white uniform was splattered with blood as well. It certainly was a most macabre sight.

"Bonsoir." he greeted me monotonously.

"I see from your appearance, you ran into some unwelcome friends." The Judge commented as he rested atop the bannister. I was silent, the Batter had returned alone and covered in blood. The only logical reason for his solo return was that Zacharie had died and it was my fault. If I had just gone when he had told me to, perhaps the Batter would have reached him in time. Or if I had somehow fought with him, maybe we could have overpowered the fake Zacharie and returned together.

"Are you okay, Mademoiselle?" the Batter asked as he saw the expression on my face. I nodded still keeping my gaze lowered.

"I would hate to think that I'm the cause for that sorrowful expression."

My head snapped up instantly at the sound of his muffled voice. He stood in the door way, jumper ripped and blood dripping off his cat mask.

"Zacharie!" I cried as I ran to him and threw my arms around him in an embrace. He stumbled backwards, taken by surprise at my sudden reaction, but eventually he hugged me back.

"I was so worried." I said fighting back the tears. Really, it was stupid for me to get so emotional, "I thought you were dead."

Zacharie chuckled, "Ye of little faith. I'm glad you're safe though." I was thankful my face was buried in his chest as an unwelcome blush heated my cheeks. The blood that had soaked into his jumper began to dampen my shirt as well. I stepped back from Zacharie and looked down at the large red stain. Instantly I looked to the identical splotch on him and frowned.

"Don't worry, it's not from me." he said lifting his jumper up enough to expose the pale, unbroken skin beneath. I averted my eyes but not as quickly as I should have. I would have the image of Zacharie's side burnt into my mind for a long time after this.

"Perhaps you and Batter should go upstairs and get cleaned up. We wouldn't want our dear T3X to worry anymore." The Judge suggested, ever the voice of reason. Again Zacharie chuckled and nodded,

"That's probably a good idea. Come on, my sporty friend." Zacharie said as he and the Batter began their ascent up the stairs. About halfway up Zacharie suddenly stopped and turned back to where the Judge and I were still standing, "By the way, there's some clothes in my bag for you. I'm not sure how they'll fit though."

"Thanks." I said giving him a smile. Zacharie just nodded and continued up stairs. The Judge and I went over to where Zacharie had dropped his backpack and began digging through it. I pulled out a pair of black jeans and a red tartan shirt. The Judge managed to pull out a pair of combat boots in my size as well.

"Just how much stuff does he have in here?" I asked as the Judge jumped out of the bag.

"Too much I imagine." he replied, "I doubt these clothes would be too comfortable to sleep in. Perhaps there's something in the wardrobe in the bedroom?"

I headed back to the room I was in before the Batter and Zacharie returned. As I passed the bathroom I could hear the shower running and someone singing. I couldn't hear the words over the groaning of the pipes but the voice was beautiful. I wondered if it was the Batter. However upon entering the bedroom I was faced with a shirtless Batter hanging his over shirt up to dry.

"Oh...sorry." I said looking down at the floor. The Batter kept his back to me as he replied,

"For what?"

"Imposing on your privacy I guess." I replied. This time he turned around when he spoke,

"You are the player. You have no reason to apologize to me, your servant."

I frowned at the floor. I wasn't sure I was entirely comfortable with being the Batter's master, so to speak. Now that I wasn't just playing a game, it somehow felt wrong. Like I was taking away his freedom. But then, given his nature, perhaps that was a good thing.

By the time I had finished my procrastination, the Batter had already left to wait for Zacharie to get out of the shower. I sighed and placed my new clothes on a chair near the door and went to open the wardrobe. It was completely empty, not even a coat hanger.

"Something wrong?" Zacharie asked from behind me. I turned, expecting to find him fully clothed. However, just like many things I had expected and then been totally wrong about, he only had a towel secured around his waist. Obviously he was still wearing his cat mask as well.

"I uh...um..." I said fumbling for words, "I was looking for a um...something..." My brain had turned to goo at the sight of his pale, smooth skin and the way the towel hung off his hips. I was also painfully aware that he was most likely naked under the white fluffy cloth.

"A something? Perhaps I could be of assistance in your search for this something?" he said with laughter in his voice.

"A shirt..." I said trying desperately not to look away from the cat mask.

"A shirt?" he asked cocking his head to the side. I blinked and in that moment regained some self control.

"Yes! A shirt! Put one on." I said. Zacharie looked down and suddenly appeared to remember that he wasn't wearing clothes.

"Oh...Oops." he said and disappeared back into the hallway. What followed was some loud, angry swearing in French and Zacharie's laughter. And then he was back, fully clothed in a clean pair of black pants and a black t-shirt. Yet for some reason my brain refused to revert out of it's gooey state.

"So this something you require, what would it be exactly?" he asked taking a seat on the bed.

"Something to sleep in." I replied still standing in front of the wardrobe. Zacharie hummed thoughtfully and then stood up again and went downstairs. I slapped my hand to my forehead as soon as he was gone. What was I doing? I was becoming doe-eyed towards a man in a cat mask who wasn't even a real person.

"But he felt so real..." I whispered to the air. When I had hugged him earlier he was warm and solid. I could feel him breathing and hear his heart beat. Yet he only existed in this place. I couldn't let myself get attached to him or any of the other characters here, it would be too painful when I went home.

...Would I even be able to get home?

"I'm afraid all I could find was this...What's wrong?" Quickly I wiped away the tears that had started to fall as I thought of my home and the very real possibility that I may never get back there again.

"Nothing, I'm fine."

"You can't lie to me." Zacharie said as he closed the distance between us in three long strides and pulled me into a comforting hug, "You miss your home, right?" I nodded against his chest. Zacharie sighed deeply and patted my hair,

"I will get you home, T3X, I promise." he whispered.

"Marie. My name is Marie." I replied sniffling a little. Zacharie lifted my chin and wiped away the last straggling tears with his thumb.

"It's nice to meet you, Marie." he said pronouncing my name as it would be in French. As quickly as our moment began, it was soon over, "Right, shirt. As I was saying, all I have is this at the moment."

I looked at the sweater that was identical to the one he had been wearing earlier today and wondered just how many of these did he own?

"I could go see if anyone left behind some clothes in the other houses around here...or maybe go back and check Damien..." he said after seeing the look on my face. I shook my head,

"No, it's fine. I don't want you running off anywhere. Anyway, I was only wondering how many of these you have." I replied taking the sweater from him.

"Oh. A few. I really liked the design and they're just so comfortable." he said becoming the cute Zacharie once more. I smiled at him.

"Well, I'll let you get some sleep. Who knows what will happen tomorrow. Goodnight, Marie." he said as he turned towards the door, "And thank you." I stared at the door that he'd closed behind him wondering what I had done that would warrant a thanks. But deciding that I was too tired to think anymore, pulled off my dirty shirt and put on Zacharie's sweater, then climbed into the bed. I fell asleep the moment my head hit the pillow.


End file.
